Kingdom of Heaven and Earth
Chapter 4: The forest of secrets
To pass through the imposing treeline of the Everfree Forest was like stepping from a brightly lit stage to the dim depths of the theater proper. While outside of the forest the weather had been sunny and breezy, inside the forest it was dark with strange shadows looming in every corner, and the stench of rotting nature ruling the air. It was the testimony of the life of the wild forest, unsupervised by the ponies and moving according to its own will. It was that unnatural place that the six ponies and one baby dragon had to first travel through on their journey.
Although they had visited the forest multiple times, the ponies were still aware that under the dark green canopy hid many secrets and mysteries that they had no idea of. Monsters and strange creatures roamed the wilderness, prowling on any unsuspecting travelers. Only somepony like Zecora, with her vast knowledge of survival in such environment, could survive in a place like that. But now, the group of friends braved the dangers of the forest to get to the other side.
They had been walking for a good while now, over five hours, and the sun had climbed up to the sky. However, this only showed in how few stray rays of light pierced the ever-present blanket of leaves that covered most of the sky. Although some parts of the forest had open skies, the further in the ponies went, the more thick they found the growth of trees and plants. Even the paths had disappeared long ago, and now they had to trust their instincts and Spike’s compass.
“I do hope that we will not run into any of the horrible creatures that live in this place. Why, an encounter with timberwolves would be simply awful way to start our journey,” Rarity said as the group was walking, simply to keep up conversation.
“Oh no, that won’t be a problem,” Fluttershy answered. “Timberwolves stay away from these parts, since it isn’t part of their territory. The only things we will have to worry about now are bugbears, catoblepas and such. They move during the day.”
Spike looked a bit spooked by the sudden information.
“Wait, does that mean-”
“That if we see anything that is big, sharp-teethed, long-clawed, scaled, or anything akin to those features, we should run. Fast,” Twilight finished his sentence for him.
A slightly nervous chuckle rippled through the group. Though they might have been laughing at the thought, the fact still remained that many monsters roamed the Everfree Forest, and the ponies would have to be very careful if they wanted to get through.
“Still, it is a bit fitting that our journey begins from here,” Rarity switched the subject. “After all, it was here that we first started out, chasing after Nightmare Moon. And it was here that we learned about the importance of the friendship between us. I am not sure whether I should call this nostalgia or not, but it is a very pleasant feeling in any case.”
“Ah know what ya mean,” Applejack said. “The road we took to the ol’ palace isn’t far away, is it?”
“Well, if the map’s to be trusted, it’s few kilometers to the Southeast from us,” Spike answered as he studied the map. “It was on the mountains, after all. But since we’re going around them to reach the Windswept Valley, we won’t be going near that ancient royal palace.”
“Wait a minute,” Rainbow Dash suddenly said. “If that place was the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters, doesn’t that mean Princess Celestia and Princess Luna used to live there? Then, what the hay happened? Why did the forest overrun the palace?”
Twilight understood Dash’s confusion. After their first visit to the Everfree Forest, the same question had been bugging her for a while. She had even thought of asking Princess Celestia about it, but decided not to be so bold. Instead, she had tried to find the answers from, where else, books. Only a few books even referenced the palace in the Everfree Forest, and those that did were usually about silly legends from times that nopony remembered.
“Well, from what I know, that palace used to be called the “Palace of Harmony” or something like that. It was built in during the time Discord still ruled the world; it and the land around it were supposedly the only places where natural laws of order still applied. It was from there that those who represented the Elements of Harmony fought back and eventually defeated Discord,” Twilight recited what she had learned from her books. “Or, that’s what was written in the books I found, anyways. I’m not sure how much of it we should believe.”
“Heeey! But I thought it was the Princesses who defeated Discord! What gives?” Pinkie Pie protested as she hopped along. Twilight nodded with a smile.
“That’s a good question, and mostly, I worded it that way because of my own speculation. You see, there are six of us ponies who represent the Elements of Harmony, right? Which means there are six Elements of Harmony. Then, wouldn’t it make sense that when the Elements were used before, there were six users even then?” Twilight spoke. “Nopony remembers the other four, and maybe there’s a reason for it. In any case, the only ones who we remain and who are important to us are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”
“Now that’s a mighty wacky thought,” Applejack commented. “Ah’ll be. Four other ponies who fought against Discord? Whaddya reckon happened to that lot?”
“Well, it has been a long time. Maybe they weren’t like the Princesses, and were just regular ponies like we are,” Twilight suggested. “Or they could still be alive, just in other parts of the world as Equestria doesn’t need them anymore, what with having Princess Celestia watching over it.”
Such a possibility was naturally enough to spark the imaginations of curious pony minds, and soon all of them were thinking up possibilities concerning these other four. Of course, it had all been just a theory Twilight had presented, and it could have very well been wrong, but since it gave them something to think and talk about while they walked, nopony really objected to it.
“Uhm… It’s an interesting subject to talk about, but shouldn’t we be just a teensy, tiny-bit more careful? We don’t want to get lost in this forest,” Fluttershy suggested after a while of walking that was akin to daydreaming.
“Ack, sorry, Fluttershy, you’re right,” Twilight laughed sheepishly. “In a maze-like place such as this, we should be extra careful about the direction we’re going. So, how is it, Spike? Are we still on the track?”
“Well, it’s a bit hard to tell right now,” Spike muttered and shook the compass with a somewhat troubled expression on his face. “For some reason, our compass is spinning around wilder than Pinkie Pie in a party.”
“Wow, that’s gotta be fast then! Because when I spin, I spin fast enough to create a Sonic Pinkboom!” Pinkie piped up, having heard what the baby dragon said.
“Sonic Pinkboom?” Twilight gave a curious glance towards Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus smacked her forehead with her hoof and sighed.
“Don’t ask.”
The ponies gathered around Spike to see what he was talking about. And indeed, the compass he was holding in his claws was spinning fast, clearly having no intention of pointing to the north anymore. In fact, it was spinning at such a high speed that it was a small wonder that the needle had not torn itself off the contraption and began its rise towards the sky.
“Well, that’s mighty strange if ya ask me,” Applejack said while peering at the compass. “Anypony know what might be the cause?”
“Well, the only thing I can think of is that there would be an abundance of lodestones nearby,” Rarity answered while looking troubled. “Remember that time when we went to look for gems, and ran into that forgotten shipment, Spike? That happened back then, too. A large enough concentration of lodestones would create this sort of effect on the compass, but… we are in a forest. There aren’t supposed to be any lodestones here.”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s messing with our compass. How’re we supposed to find our way out of this forest if we don’t know where North is?” Rainbow Dash asked.
With no other option, the ponies started to look around them to see if they would find the source of the weird behavior of the compass. However, they only saw what they had seen for hours before that: A long expanse of overgrown forest that seemed to continue endlessly into every direction. In the dim light of the sun that was filtered by the canopy, it was especially hard to find anything that could indicate existence of lodestones or anything else that was affecting the compass.
While the other ponies were still looking around, Twilight decided that it was time for some detective work instead of blindly walking around and hoping to stumble upon the answer. Since she knew that compasses required a strong magnetic force to go awry, there had to be one nearby. But what sort of thing in a forest could create something like that? Had they been closer to the mountains, she could have ventured a guess that there was a cave or something in which lodestone had been mined in before. However, they had deliberately taken a route that circled around the mountains, keeping enough distance so that they would not be forced on uneven land. So that could not be it either.
Finally, Twilight Sparkle got an idea.
“Hey, Fluttershy? Are there any creatures in this forest that are made out of earth and stones?” Twilight asked from her friend.
“Oh, I’m not sure. I’d think they’d stay underground or close to the mountains, since a forest like this would be awfully dangerous, even for them,” Fluttershy answered while pondering the question. “Magical creatures don’t like to live in places other than their natural habitat. They wouldn’t be able to adapt.”
“Are you saying that the manticore we saw was natural occurrence in this forest?” Rainbow Dash butted into the conversation, clearly worried by the suggestion.
“Oh, of course,” Fluttershy said. “Manticores can live almost anywhere, since they are good at adapting. Seeing one here wasn’t strange at all.”
“Well, whatever it is, I think it’s clear that if it causes our compass to go crazy, it shouldn’t be here,” Twilight summed up. “Wait a minute!“
Twilight’s eyes lit up as an idea hit her.
“Since lodestones are magnetized, I wonder…”
Giving a small mental nudge to the tome she carried on her back, Twilight was able to activate the artifact of Star Swirl the Bearded given to her by Princess Celestia. The book gently flew out of her backpack and placed itself in front of her, opening up and revealing the contents of the pages. Twilight frowned and began quickly turning the pages, once again utilizing her mental commands instead of real magic. She hadn’t tried to use any magic with her broken horn yet, as she wanted to do it in a place where she could not cause any sort of trouble if something went wrong.
“What’cha looking for, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked as she jumped around the her, trying to catch a glimpse of what was written in the book.
“Well, I thought that if there cannot be any natural creatures that would live in this forest and affect our compass, then it would have to be ‘unnatural.’ In other words, something related to magic. Those tend to travel a lot and live in places you least expect them to. Like that dragon, remember? Usually dragons stay away from civilization, but this one took a nap right next to Ponyville,” Twilight explained. “So, I thought that maybe there would be some stuff in this book about magical creatures that could cause something like this to happen.”
While she had talked, Twilight had been going through the pages at increasing page, before finally stopping on one specific spread. It was full of small pictures and swirly writing around them. In other words, it was Star Swirl the Bearded’s research into these creatures that he had drawn into the book. The ponies leaned closer to see what had been written, while Twilight pointed at the creature that had caught her interest.
“Listen to this: Chapter LXIII: Elementals. Elementals are magical creatures that embody the elements of nature, like water, air fire and so on. In other words, they are a broad term for various beings that can be classified to represent one of these forces. They usually live near the element they are dedicated to, but at the same time, wandering elementals are also known. They make their territory to wherever natural magic occurs, such as near ley lines,” Twilight read aloud from the book. “There are both naturally born elementals, as well as those that are a product of magical experiments, or that are magical constructs made to serve their creator. Sometimes, after the owner has passed on, these constructs still continue to live on and become independent creatures roaming the land, trying to find a suitable place to live.”
“Then are you saying that what is making our compass go so wild is one of these elementals?” Rarity inquired. “Dear Celestia, just what kind of being would cause such an effect?”
Twilight turned page again, her eyes darting from line to line and from picture to picture as she was searching for a suitable culprit for their misbehaving navigation device. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, and pointed at the group of creatures drawn onto the lower part of the page.
“These. Earth elementals. For example, gnomes are natural earth elementals which guard old mines and treasures that have been left underground, like the hoards of dragons. They are apparently a part of the earth itself, and move in it like it was mere water. If they are something like that, I bet they could have lodestone as a part of their body,” Twilight told everypony, getting a bit excited about the information. “And then there’s the most famous artificial earth elemental type: the Golem. According to the book, these constructs used to be made by ancient unicorns to help them in their research and with physical labor. But since golems do not age, they always outlast their creator, and now there are hundreds, if not thousands, golems roaming the world. And golems are made from inanimate matter, like rock, or lodestone!”
“Twi’, that’s all fine and dandy, but even if we know what it is, we’ve got a bigger problem,” Applejack interrupted her friend. “We need to find the thing first and somehow convince it to move somewhere else, so we can continue the journey.”
“Oh, right,” Twilight said with a sheepish smile. “You’re right. How are we gonna do that?”
“Oh, I know!” Spike piped up. “You said that all the earth elementals tended to be made from things straight out of earth, right? Then, couldn’t Rarity use her magic to find the location of the thing?”
Everypony’s expecting eyes turned to the white unicorn, who was a bit taken aback at being suddenly in the spotlight. However, after few seconds of thought, she flipped her mane triumphantly and nodded in a graceful manner.
“But of course. It will be somewhat harder than usual, as my ability is meant for gemstones, but I should be able to extend its scope enough to locate any lodestone,” Rarity answered.
With the eyes of everypony on her, Rarity emptied her mind and concentrated her unique power to her horn. She let the magical energies that coursed within every unicorn take a form of a vision, a sight that enhanced not only her eyes, but her whole mind. It was a grid that spread over Rarity, decorated with twinkling lights that connected themselves together, reaching eventually her horn. In that spreading field, Rarity allowed her magic to reach out.
Together, these effects caused Rarity’s horn to automatically search the nearest jewels and be drawn towards them. However, things weren’t so simple this time. Instead of the usual gems, Rarity had to tune her horn to a completely new type of mineral, in this case, magnetite. Doing so meant trying to readjust a part of herself that gave birth to the said magical ability. It could be done, but it was not easy. It required her to completely empty her mind and create the target of her magic from scratch. The change would not be permanent, but for the short while it lasted, she would be able to search for this desired mineral.
Sweat fell from Rarity’s brow down to her muzzle. She pushed her eyelids shut so hard in concentration that she was afraid her fake eyelashes would fall off. However, slowly, but surely, the image in her mind changed from the shining gem to a jet-black, gleaming, crystal-like form of magnetite.
“Got it!” Rarity yelled in triumph.
And single blink of an eye later, her horn smashed itself straight to the ground.
“R-Rarity? What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash shouted and the ponies rushed to the aid of their friend.
“I am n-not exactly sure! I did everything correctly and now my magic should be drawn to magnetite, but, but for some reason, it keeps taking me straight to the ground, locking me against it!” Rarity panicked. “I do not understand! I did everything right!”
“Maybe you did the switch wrong?” Twilight suggested while trying to pull her friend free. “Experimenting with unicorn magic sometimes yields weird results.”
“Ooh! Ooh! Or maybe Rarity is being dragged off to a new destiny!” Pinkie giggled while helping others.
“Err, girls? Ain’t there a simple reason for this?” Applejack asked with a bit of a worried voice. “Ya know, if Rarity’s horn tries to take her to the ground, shouldn’t that mean… there’s a mighty big pile o’ lodestone right beneath us?”
The whole group simply froze up. Silence filled the area except for the wind that howled through the treetops. Everypony was putting two and two together after Applejack’s words, and they were arriving, one-by-one, into the same, worrying conclusion. A conclusion that meant that they were all in a much bigger trouble than they had initially believed.
After all, if the lodestone concentration was right under them…
“...That would mean that the elemental is right under our hooves, right?” Twilight finally voiced what everypony was thinking.
In that instant, the pressure of the air shifted to something much more foreboding. The earth started rumbling beneath the ponies feet, and cracks appeared everywhere in the soil. The quake threw the ponies left and right, except for Rarity who was still stuck to the earth from her horn. The silence was now replaced by the groaning of the ground and the screams of the birds that flew into safety from the area.
Roots were unearthed and stones flew as a gigantic form started to rise from the ground before the eyes of the ponies. First appeared the shoulders that were as wide as boulders, followed by the colossal back that started to straighten itself. Then came the torso, created from cube-shaped small crystals that seemed to be infinite in number. Four strong legs pounded the earth as the huge creature stood up, having been hidden by the embrace of the earth. An ink-black shape made out of magnetite and gravel rose to its full length, and raised its jagged head towards the canopy. With Rarity still dangling from the creature’s side from her horn, the elemental opened its square-shaped mouth and let out a wordless bellow that shook both the ground and the ponies around it.
“It’s a golem!” Twilight shouted.
The golem was vaguely pony-like in shape, but it was made mostly out of lodestone. The surface of the creature was full of cubes and octahedral shapes that were bound together by thick magic that surrounded the golem. The jet black color reflected what little sunlight managed to hit it. It stood over four meters tall, towering over the ponies like a giant from fairy tales. The legs could not really be called such, as they were only four huge club-like stubs. The head was nothing more than a collection of sharp edges that pointed everywhere, with one ruby representing an eye on the left side of its head.
An eye that aimed straight at the ponies.
“That seems somewhat obvious, dear. Now would you all be so kind as to get me off of this monstrosity!?” Rarity yelled from above, both annoyed and scared of the position she had gotten herself into.
“Already on it, Rarity!”
Rainbow Dash shot towards the sky, throwing off her cloak over her shoulders to reveal the Wing Armor hidden underneath it. Her wings flapped like two small hurricanes as she gathered speed by flying a few circles over the creatures head. At the height of her speed, Dash shot right past the golem and in the space behind its head. She climbed up with a sharp turn and then threw her wings into a full stop, hovering in the air for a moment, now gliding instead of flying.
This thing better work, Rainbow Dash grunted in her mind. Have to just hope for the best!
Rainbow Dash switched the angle of her wings to yaw herself around, and then pushed forward, regaining the speed she had gained before. With the thrust of her wings and the boost generated by the Wing Armor, Rainbow Dash crashed right into the body of the golem near the spot where Rarity was still stuck.
A loud boom shook the forest area as the side of the golem exploded into tiny fragments of soil and magnetite, releasing Rarity in the process. Fluttershy hurried to her friend’s aid, catching her before she could hit the ground. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, hit the ground gracefully and without a scratch on her, despite having slammed herself against the hard, rocky surface of the creature. The armor of Commander Hurricane was clearly working.
“Rainbow Dash… did you just perform renversement?” Rarity asked with a slight surprise. The blue-feathered pegasus looked at her with indifferent expression.
“Gesundheit. Now, let’s focus on this blockhead!”
Rarity found it best not to say anything, as it would have deepened the awkwardness of the moment.
“Good hit, Rainbow Dash! Now we can… wait… what!?” Twilight’s eyes opened in shock as she saw what was happened to the damaged golem.
Instead of crumbling apart from the side, the golem roared once more. Immediately, shards of rocks, small pebbles and raw soil were levitated from the ground, and they attached themselves into the damaged part of the creature. It looked similar to moon growing full, except that it happened within few seconds. Soon enough, it was as if the thing had not been damaged at all.
“Its magic is too strong!” Twilight shouted. “It’ll keep regenerating if we don’t come up with some way to stop the actual magic holding it together!”
“Well, yer the expert on magic here, Twi’,” Applejack answered while she took her Chain Bridle from her saddlebag. “Find a way to stop it. Meanwhile, we’ll keep him busy!”
As Twilight dug into her book once more, this time with enough fervor to snort out smoke, the rest of the ponies confronted the golem. They all kept their distance for that moment, trying to judge the next move of the big creature. Well, almost all of them. At the same time, Rarity had noticed something had happened while she had been hanging from the golem like some sort of Heart’s Warming Eve decoration.
Something quite terrible.
“W-w-what!? My cloak! It is torn! Right here, at the hem! Ripped by your sharp stones! You… you… you enemy of fashion!” Rarity shouted, in shock. “Now you’ve done it! It. Is. On!”
Hearing the threatening voice of the white unicorn, the golem’s head turned towards Rarity, and it lifted one of its huge legs. The mass of stone and earth was swung at the couturier, catching the fuming pony completely off-guard. But, before Rarity was even able to scream, a golden chain wrapped tightly around the leg. Applejack yanked the other end of the Chain Bridle and sent the limb careering to the left, missing Rarity by dozen inches. With a sound that made the earth quake, the leg of the golem was buried into the ground, as the creature was unable to stop the momentum of its attack.
“This feller here ain’t monster enough for me to tie him up, it seems,” Applejack said. She was panting heavily due to the strain of redirecting golem’s leg. “We’ve gotta find another another way to take it down!”
The golem was struggling to break free from the Chain Bridle, but so far its attempts were in vain. While it was not truly a monster but an artificial creation, it was still removed from the civilized nature of the ponies. Thus, these conflicting facts caused the Chain Bridle to have a good grip, but not one that was impossible to break. If the golem would start to rampage, Applejack knew she would not be able to hold on.
Suddenly, the creature managed to get its leg free from the ground, and swung it backwards to break from the grip of the Chain Bridle. Applejack held on with her teeth, and was yanked away from where she was standing. She flew in the air, still holding on to the end of the chain. The golem saw this and launched its other front leg forward, attempting to swat the airborne pony out of the fight. Seeing this, Applejack steeled her nerves, took a better grip of the Chain Bridle, and prepared herself.
Just as Applejack and the limb of the golem were about to hit each other, Applejack sprung into action. She extended her front legs and hit a nearby tree. The direction of her momentum was changed in that instant, and she swung to the side, avoiding the attack by a hair’s breadth. Continuing her swinging motion, Applejack wrapped the chain around the trunk of the tree with one sweeping move before hitting the ground and sliding out of the way, carried by the speed she had generated while spinning around the trunk.
The golem did not realize what had happened before it was too late. Its leg continued forward, pulling the tree along with it because of the chain that connected them. With a loud, creaking cry, the large tree began to topple, straight onto the unsuspecting golem. The creature managed to look at the tree once, sporting a dull surprise on its face, before the heavy oak crushed it. Pieces of earth and lodestones flew everywhere, as the right side of the golem’s body literally crumpled under the weight of the tree.
“Twilight! Hurry!” Spike said and turned to her friend, who was snout-deep in the tome. “It’s your chance to hit it with a spell!”
“Alright! I’ve got it!” Twilight yelled triumphantly and stood up, facing the golem with a grin. “Stand back girls, this should erase the magic that holds the creature together.”
However, as Twilight charged up her magic, her concentration was momentarily broken by a stray thought
That is, if this tome works. While it might be artifact of Star Swirl the Bearded, I’m still not sure. If it was my own magic this would be really easy, but how trustworthy is this tome?
As Twilight Sparkle tapped into the magic that was buried into the mind of every unicorn, the tome she had been granted as a gift began emitting a purple glow. It floated next to her and opened wide, revealing the contents of the page Twilight had just been reading. It showed, in-detail, how to build and destroy a golem, the different ways to dismantle a rogue elemental and dozens of other articles of information related to their current predicament.
The stump that had once been Twilight Sparkle’s horn began glowing with bright purple color. It waxed and waned, and was clearly not as concentrated as it had been before. However, with a look of pure determination on her face, Twilight bit her lip and forced her magic into a spell that was needed right now, one that would deactivate the core of the golem. Power welled up inside of her, becoming a familiar sensation that felt almost bittersweet after such a long absence.The energy kept gathering into a large lump, one that extended forward from the stump of the horn and took, painstakingly slowly, the desired form. Guided by the formula of the spell she saw in the book before her, Twilight recreated the spell into the air itself, instead of the horn where every unicorn prepared their magic before using it.
“Nn, nngghaa!” Twilight’s teeth grinded together, and with a rising yell, she released her spell straight at the golem in front of her.
What followed was a loud bang that made everypony in the area wince. A blast of light shone in the forest for a moment before dying down surprisingly fast. The ponies were forced to wince again when they saw the form of Twilight Sparkle flying backwards through the air, only to hit the nearby tree. She fell to the ground and rose up with wobbly feet, her eyes swirling around.
“O-okay, or maybe not,” Twilight stuttered. “I think… I need a bit more training…”
It was clear that magic was not an option at this point. Pinkie Pie, seeing that the efforts of her friends were getting them nowhere, quickly opened the Trick Bag she had been given, and started digging through its contents. Finally, something appeared inside the bag, and she yanked it out with one quick swing of her head, presenting the item to the golem in a victorious fashion.
“Aha! This should take care… of you?” Pinkie’s smile disappeared when she saw what she was holding.
It was a teddy bear. A quite small one, in fact. The fur of the teddy was like starry night sky. The eyes of the bear were red buttons, giving it quite comical look. Pinkie stared at the teddy bear, dumbfounded, before finally perking up. Her eyes shone with understanding.
“You must be scared of bears, right!” She pointed at the golem. “In that case, take this, you meanie!”
Pinkie Pie swung her head back and then forward, launching the teddy bear straight at the golem. It flew in a large arc towards the stone-creature, looking rather absurd when confronting the elemental that was many times its size. The golem looked at the flying teddy bear with a confused expression for a moment, as if it didn’t know what to do about it.
Then the golem proceeded to swat the teddy bear away, flinging it deep into the forest.
“Oh well,” Pinkie said and giggled. “At least I tried!”
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had once again circled around the golem. She gathered speed and struck the air with her wings faster and faster. Her acceleration finally turned her into a blur under the green canopy, zooming threateningly towards the creature. Deciding her target, Dash shot right at the golem’s back, hitting it with enough speed to break boulders. Her gamble paid off once more, and she pierced golem like a cannonball. There was a loud, groaning sound that made the earth under the ponies quake, as the blue pegasus emerged from the chest of the golem and landed right in front of it. She drew lines of rainbow-colored flames as her hooves dug into the ground, stopping her right before she hit Rarity.
In the aftermath of the violent collision, something bright was revealed in the heart of the golem. It shone like a small star, catching everypony’s attention.
“Look!” Rarity shouted and pointed at the golem. “That must be the spell that is keeping it together! Under that bubble of magic!”
The golem, which was now missing both its right side and a big chunk from its chest, was quickly starting to regenerate again by gathering earth and stone from the ground to reform its body. However, as Rainbow Dash had flown through the creature, the magic that gathered all the components was now completely visible. It was a transparent, blue-colored bubble of magical shield that resided inside the golem, and the floating, shining crystal of concentrated magic that kept it alive. The crystal’s shine extended to the pieces the ground and tore it apart, floating the pieces back to golem.
While the blue-feathered pegasus had hit the bubble that protected the crystal, she had only broken it for a second or two. It had completely negated the damage from the hit, thus protecting the crystal. Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue when she realized it. Even she wasn’t fast enough to hit the thing two times in a row, without letting the bubble to reappear after the first tackle.
“Rainbow Dash! I have an idea,” Rarity suddenly said and directed her magic to her amulet. “Gather speed again and pierce through the bubble again. This time we’ll get the golem!”
“But I’m not fast enough to be in two places at once! I—” Dash started, but after seeing the determined look on Rarity’s face, she simply nodded. “Alright.”
While Rainbow Dash flew up into the air to gather enough speed for the ramming attack once more, Rarity concentrated her magic into the Arrow Amulet. With the blue magic coursing through it, the amulet once more took the form of a bow, floating before the white unicorn’s face. The strings of energy connected themselves to the parts of the amulet that acted as limbs of the bow, while the same energy formed the bridge that connected the grip to the limbs. It all was finished with the spell arrow that formed out of Rarity’s magic and took its place on the string.
Rarity’s eyes focused on the bubble that was still somewhat visible. While she had some experience in archery from before, most of her knowledge came solely from books. After all, archery was all about grace and elegance, and her mentor in the art of couture had always stressed that she needed to learn everything about those two concepts, even if it was not connected to the fashion and designing clothes. Hence, it could be said that archery was not unfamiliar to Rarity.
Now, we shall see how much I remember about it, Rarity thought and quieted her mind in concentration.
Rarity’s hooves dug into the ground, mimicking the pose which she had seen used by others who practiced archery through magical means. She balanced her body and posture by taking a graceful stance that let the weight of her body rest in perfect balance, removing any and all “impurities” from the equation. The white unicorn’s head turned towards the golem, and her eyes locked on to the crystal that was her target. The bow she had readied was lifted by her telekinesis right in front of her, allowing her to aim at the creature. In her mind, she already saw a straight line from her to the shining piece of magic.
With precise movement and body-control, Rarity relaxed her breathing, allowing it to become one continuous, yet controlled, flow. In her mind, her breathing took the form of a quiet river in the park. One that, despite its environment, represented the perfect nature. It was the same sort of technique she used when calming herself down during delicate procedures of making a new dress. A technique she had learned long ago, and which had proven useful through her whole life.
The bow and the string started moving in opposite direction, as Rarity drew the arrow back with her magic. Slowly but steadily she pulled the arrow further back, until it was at the level of her eyebrows. From there, she continued the same elegant move by bringing the string close to her cheek, so that the end of the arrow finally lay slightly below her cheekbone. Her draw was ready, and the attack had been prepared. The only thing that was missing was to let go of the string.
No… no. I made the same mistake back in Ponyville, when I almost hit Spikey-wikey. I had completely forgotten it, but there was something else, Rarity thought. Something the book had called “Archer’s paradox”. After all, the arrow cannot have too much stiffness to it. I must correct it.
With this realization, Rarity aimed her arrow slightly to the side from her target, ensuring this way that the stiffness of the arrow would be correct, and therefore it would return back to the correct path after it had been shot from the bow. For a normal pony, doing so without testing the bow first would have been nearly impossible, but Rarity’s eyes had been honed to see every detail. They could automatically calculate the subtle differences in her aim, and correctly pick the right one. Just like they had now.
“Very well! Applejack! Use your Chain Bridle to keep the other limb out of the way!” Rarity commanded. “And Rainbow Dash! Charge at the core at my mark, and after tackling it, hit the ground, immediately!”
The two ponies responded with loud “Aye-aye!” shouts, and sprung into action. Applejack ran up to the Chain Bridle that was still stuck on the tree, and freed it by simply shortening the length. Having ran back, Applejack then threw the other end of the chain forward. The golden row of metal-links extended in the air and wrapped around the remaining front-leg of the golem like a snake, stopping its movement. Shouting wildly like she was in rodeo, Applejack swung the Chain Bridle around yet another tree, making sure that the elemental could not get anywhere.
“Rainbow Dash! Now!” Rarity shouted.
“Alright!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
The blue pegasus dove from the sky like a comet, creating a trail of prismatic light behind her. The Wing Armor that she wore shone heroically, as if responding to the feelings of its wearer. The mystical powers of the armor activated once more, shielding Rainbow Dash from the incoming hit. With a grin on her face, Dash rammed straight into the chest of the golem, breaking the stone surface and the magic bubble behind it.
It was at that moment that Rarity’s concentration came to its peak, and she let go of the string of her bow.
The release created a blast of light, illuminating the forest and sending a shockwave shaking the branches of the trees. The blue arrow pierced the air, leaving a shrieking sound behind as it hungrily flew towards its target. It became a flash that reduced the thirty meters between Rarity and the golem into nothing. With all of the white unicorn’s magical power behind it, the simple arrow became a messenger of certain defeat to the creature of stone and earth.
The arrow of blue energy flew with magnificent speed, leaving a roar in its wake. Its speed made even Rainbow Dash seem slow. Understanding what was coming, the blue pegasus dove straight to the ground and rolled to safety. And not a moment too late. The blue arrow whizzed through the air, cutting a path to the magical core of the golem. The bubble that had been protecting the crystal was now gone, Rainbow Dash having just destroyed it. The path of the arrow was now unobstructed.
Just before hitting, Rarity saw in the golem’s eye that it understood. In the fraction of a second it took for the arrow to reach the crystal, the creature knew it had lost. By allowing its shield to disappear, it had sealed its own destiny.
And there was nothing it could do. The blue light pierced the crystal with a shattering sound, continuing towards the skies as if to sing about the victory that had been attained.
In the confrontation between the beautiful archer and the monstrous golem, the one who was left standing was the graceful unicorn, Rarity.
“Watch out!”
The sudden yell came from an unexpected source. Twilight Sparkle charged to the scene of golem’s defeat, panic filling her eyes. The other ponies, who had already been sure of their victory, looked at her with surprised expression. They didn’t have the knowledge about golems that Twilight had, after all. Only she knew what happened to these creatures after their core was destroyed. They did not know that all the magical energy gathered in the crystal would be vaporized in an explosion that would leave a sizable crater.
Twilight Sparkle had no time to think, she had no time to consciously reach out to her magic, or to make a complex spell. Her instincts kicked in as her desire to protect her friends override any other thought in her head. She stared down at the cluster of magical energy that was about to spread violently into every direction, and she gritted her teeth together. It was a blank space of time, no longer than few seconds. The book of Star Swirl the Bearded opened and floated next to her, as the blood in her veins rushed her into action. And it all culminated into a blinding light that engulfed her horn.
The power she thought she had lost completely after losing her horn came back to Twilight Sparkle in a moment of pure desperation.
Her wish to save her friends took a form from the pages of the grimoire, and became a spell that spread from her horn to engulf all her friends. A barrier of pure magic, with a pattern of hexagon running on its purple surface, veiled the ponies and shielded them from the explosion that occurred a second later. The sheer power of the attack pushed the barrier down, but Twilight held on, pouring every last bit of magic inside her into the wall that stood between the group and the raging remnants of the crystal.
At that point, something strange happened. The ground, put under a lot of pressure by the barrier Twilight was holding together, started to crack everywhere around the ponies. The tunnel that the golem had used to ambush them had weakened the earth under the group, with unfortunate results. While they had been saved from the explosion, there was nothing they could do against this new danger. With the shockwave of the destroyed crystal pushing the barrier down, and the barrier causing the ground to crumble, it took only a short moment for the soil below the ponies to give away.
Before anypony could even realize it, the ground had disappeared from below the ponies, revealing the large and deep tunnel that had been dug by the golem. Leaving behind only screams of surprise, the six ponies and one baby dragon fell into the tunnel, and disappeared into the darkness below.
And once the shockwave caused by the golem’s destruction had died out, what remained was only the forest, silent once more.
****
“What is this!? Argh, The Great and Powerful Trixie cannot believe they got away! This is all your fault, salescolt!”
The voice that complained in the dark forest belonged to a unicorn with blue coat and pale blue mane. She was dressed in a rather flashy attire of a cloak and pointed hat, both purple in color and adorned with pictures of stars of different colors. Just a few minutes ago her violet eyes had been glued to the battle raging in the forest. Now they were staring angrily at the other pony who stood not far away from her.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is most disappointed! You promised that the stone golem you provided would be enough to exact Great Trixie’s revenge on that wretched Twilight Sparkle, but just look at the result! All we have is a hole in a ground and a destroyed golem!” Trixie said and pointed accusingly at the aftermath of the fight they had been watching in secret. “This is not what the Great Trixie was promised! I demand that you do something about it, salescolt!”
The stallion in question was a one in the prime of his life, full of youthful vigor. The earth pony had a light blonde mane that was as uncouth and unkempt as his stubble of a beard. The peach-like color of his coat made him blend into the sunset of Everfree Forest so well that Trixie had trouble pinpointing his location. It was not until he turned his blazing orange eyes at the unicorn that she saw him.
“Now, now. It is somewhat unfair to blame me, Great Trixie,” the stallion said with a lazy voice. “After all, like you said, I am just a salescolt. This golem was nothing but a piece of merchandise given to me by my higher-ups. It was unfortunate that what I got was a failure, but these sorts of things happen. New products are sometimes faulty. It is not until test drives, like these, that we can fix them to the point when we can start selling them properly.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie demands compensation,” Trixie informed the stallion. “Trixie paid an incredibly large amount of bits to get a golem what would do exactly as it was told, yet the product ended up being nothing more than a failure. In other words, The Great Trixie wants her bits back!”
The stallion chuckled. He had dealt with these kind of customers before. Taking a long, deep sigh, he gazed at the rubble in the distance that had once been the golem he had sold to Trixie. He kicked the piece of lodestone that lay at his feet, having ended up there because of the explosion. After taking his sweet time and letting the blue unicorn fume at her own pace, the stallion turned to Trixie with a smile that only merchants knew how to use.
“Well, of course, Great Trixie, I could offer you a full refund on the golem. That was part of our deal, was it not? But, you see, my employers are pretty enthusiastic on getting these golems on the bigger market, and have tasked me with finding every weakness they have. As you can see, I am nothing more than a lowly earth pony, not an amazing unicorn such as yourself,” the stallion said. “Therefore, I would like to propose you a deal: I have a few golems and other magical constructs in stock. If you’d like to, I could let you use them against these ponies that have wronged you. Surely one of them can satisfy your needs. In other words, you’d be getting to use multiple golems at the price of just one. Sounds fair, does it not?”
Trixie furrowed her brow, but the glint in her eyes told clearly that she was interested about this new arrangement. She mulled it over in her head for a good while, every now and then glancing at the hole where Twilight Sparkle and her friends had disappeared to. And every time she did so, her eyes narrowed some more with anger. It was clear that she had not forgotten the humiliation she had experienced at the hooves of the said ponies.
Finally, Trixie turned to face the merchant stallion and smiled smugly.
“Well, your suggestion is an intriguing one. And they do say that one should never look a gift horse in the mouth. The Great and Powerful Trixie believes that by helping you, she might be able to achieve her goal, which is the only thing she cares about at the moment,” Trixie spoke and extended her hoof towards the stallion. “In other words, the Great Trixie shall accept your deal. After all, on top of everything that you said, controlling golems is a good warm-up if The Great and Powerful Trixie needs to engage in a battle of magic with the accursed Twilight Sparkle.”
The stallion raised his eyebrows and shook Trixie’s hoof, answering her smile with a one that was nearly a reflection. He did not feel like saying that the reason why the golem had lost so miserably against the ponies was because the one controlling it had no idea how to use it. Speaking about unfortunate facts like that had the habit of making the customers unhappy, after all.
“Then it is a deal,” the stallion said. “Shall we continue our journey then? The next piece of merchandise is stashed in another town, after all.”
“Yes, let’s,” Trixie answered and turned around. “The Great Trixie has been too long in this filthy forest, and needs a… needs a… needs…”
Trixie’s words died out during her walk, as she came across a rather strange object to be in Everfree Forest. It was a blue teddy bear with stars in its fur, staring up at Trixie with his red eyes. Trixie’s eyes grew wider as she started to realize what it was, and the color on the unicorn’s face faded quickly into paleness of fear. Cold sweat started running down her neck, and before the stallion behind her could even realize what was going on, The Great and Powerful Trixie had stomped onto the toy and then fled into the distance, leaving behind a wailing scream.
“Noooooo! The Ursa Minor is coming to get meeeee!!” Were the last words the stallion heard before Trixie disappeared into the distance.
“Hmh? A teddy bear?” The merchant pony said and looked down at the toy. “Fancy that. Who’d have known something like that had the power to scare show-offs?”
With a nonchalant laugh, the stallion followed after his “customer.” The only sign that was left behind of the events on the hill was the teddy bear, having survived its rough handling at the hooves of the golem and Trixie.
****
A bright light shining through her eyelids and the sound of crackling flames woke Twilight Sparkle. Cold, stagnant air and the feeling of wet stone surrounded her from all sides, making her skin shiver. Not only that, but her whole body felt like it had been through a train wreck, which wasn’t very far from the truth. She remembered how they had fallen through the huge tunnel that had led into the bowels of the earth.
Groggily, Twilight forced her eyes open and gazed at the world around her. The only reason she could see it was because of an emerald lightt, coming from a torch that burned with fire from a dragon’s breath. It was one of the torches they had packed with them, just in case, and from the looks of it, Spike had just lit it up in order to illuminate their current predicament. The light threw long shadows in the cave, creating a creepy illusion of dark creatures that skulked just out of sight.
“Ow, my head,” Twilight groaned as she slowly got up from the ground. “Is everypony alright?”
“Just a lil’ bit bruised, but otherwise were fine and dandy,” Applejack answered. She was already up, looking around the place they were in. “Looks like that tunnel we fell in came crashin’ down after us. We were lucky.”
Applejack was right. As Twilight looked behind her, she saw that a huge landslide had blocked the tunnel that had taken them this far, effectively preventing any sunlight from reaching the place. Not that much would have gotten there, anyways, as Twilight hazily remembered the tunnel going sometimes nearly horizontally, which had probably saved them from worse injuries. Had it been just a straight drop, it would have been really dangerous. Twilight silently thanked the stars in her mind for the stroke of luck that had brought them all there in one piece.
Twilight turned around to look at the rest of the area they were in. To her surprise, it did not look like a cave carved by a rogue elemental at all. Instead, the large size and the nearly perfectly half-circular shape hinted that it had been done by miners. The brown, cold walls had roots sticking out of them, but otherwise they were clearly well-planned to hold up the weight of the tons of earth above them. The ground below them was also more akin to a road, making it rather obvious that it was ponies who had carved this tunnel. There were even a few stone slabs sticking out of the ground, indicating that at some point, something like a street had been there.
Other than the large clearing where the six ponies and the baby dragon had landed, there was only one other place: A tunnel that led out of the clearing into the dark depths outside of the veil of light. Twilight tried to peer into the pitch-black shadows that hung like tar in the distance, but she was unable to see even hints of what lied ahead.
“Wow-wee! This place is awesome!” Pinkie Pie giggled. “Just listen to the echo in here. PARTY!”
Pinkie’s shout reverberated from the walls of the cave, becoming a series of yells that disappeared into the darkness outside of the light. The echo seemed to continue with an unnaturally long length of time, still coming from somewhere in the distance where the ponies could not see. Looking proud of herself, Pinkie Pie started humming a tune that, while not echoing as loudly as her yell, still bounced off the cold walls of the clearing in a eerie way.
Rarity, looking rather ruffled from falling into the tunnel, shivered at the sight of the cave and turned to look at her friends. Everpony was on the edge because of the situation, other than Pinkie Pie. Even Spike, who was more at home in places like these than the rest, was fervently looking through the map given to him by Princess Luna, trying to find their location. However, it was very doubtful that there would be any information about the caves they were in.
“Twilight, darling, do you have any idea where we could be?” Rarity asked worriedly. “You have read history of the lands around Ponyville, right? What could this place be? From the looks of it, it seems like it was ponymade.”
“Maybe… maybe this is a cave of a… dragon?” Fluttershy’s suggestion faded into a mere whisper towards the end. Rainbow Dash snorted.
“As if! There’s no way dragons would make their lair somewhere this deep!” she commented. “They’re creatures of sky, after all.”
“Well, whatever this place is, it’s makin’ me worried,” Applejack said. “A place like this under Everfree Forest? Sounds mighty fishy to me.”
“That’s right,” Twilight answered. “This is definitely a place made by ponies. In other words, something that should not exist in Everfree Forest. That place is, after all, separated from civilization in more ways than one. These tunnels, and the palace where the Elements of Harmony were are both abnormalities in the forest. I have few theories as to what this place could be, but to be honest, until we find more information, I can’t say anything. And as much as I’d like to research this place our first priority is to get out of here.”
“That sounds great,” Spike commented while reading the map. “There’s something here that I think might be our location right now, but I can’t make head or tails about it.”
Having reached an agreement, the group started to slowly make their way into the tunnel that led out of the clearing. With Rarity and Twilight in the lead and lighting up the way with their horns, they ventured forth. Spike came as the last one and held his torch high, so that the group was able to maximize the radius of the light, creating a bit more bearable atmosphere into the dark and damp place. Twilight thanked the stars that they had sources of light, as in the dark, navigation in the tunnel would have been a nightmare. Even though it went straight ahead, the mere idea of wandering in the caves without being able to see made the Twilight shiver with fear.
The atmosphere of the tunnel was enough to make the whole group stay silent. Even Pinkie Pie refrained from actually talking, though she kept humming her happy tune while skipping after Twilight. The other ponies started to recognize the tune to be the one she had used when singing about confronting their fears with a laugh. Miraculously enough, the mere idea of that memory made all of them feel a bit more safe and secure, but not by much. The fact that they had no idea where they were was enough to make any situation subdue. Still, the ponies bravely ventured further into the tunnel, with no intention of allowing their fears get the best of them.
It was after over thirty minutes of walking that Twilight Sparkle started noticing something strange. The ponymade aspects of the tunnel were becoming clearer and clearer the deeper they ventured into it. The sand-covered ground changed into street of carved stone plates that looked like they belonged into an ancient city, rather than in caves like this one. The roots popping out of the walls became less frequent, and every now and then the ponies saw rubble next to the walls, telling tales of pillars that had once been in the spots, holding up the ceiling of soil above the users of the tunnel.
Finally, the ponies came across something that made them all stop walking.
It was a mural that was half-buried in the wall. But not just any sort of mural. A stone slab larger than any of the ponies was stuck in the wall. Time had eroded all the colors away from the piece of art, but otherwise, it was in a surprisingly good condition. If the ponies hadn’t known it to be impossible, they would have suspected somepony having taken care of the mural for a long time.
Itl depicted an alicorn that the whole group was very familiar with. A one with beautiful, long wings and a horn that was the source of great magic. The mane of the alicorn in the mural was long and flowing, like another object entirely, just like her tail. But that was not why the group realized who she was. It was because of the cutie mark in the shape of a sun that was on the flank of the alicorn. A cutie mark Twilight Sparkle had seen many, many times.
“Wow. Did we fall into Princess Celestia’s art-room, by any chance?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Wonder if she has any hoof-made statues, too.”
The group simply found no words to describe the absurdity of the situation. They had found a mural that clearly showed the picture of Princess Celestia in a cave that nopony had any idea of existing under the Everfree Forest. Any reasonable explanation that might have been a valid suggestion about the nature of the cave was thrown straight out of window after they had found the picture. Even Twilight Sparkle was having hard time trying to wrack her pain for an explanation about the mural.
Then it hit her like lightning. The reason why the tunnel under the ground of Everfree Forest seemed like it was carved by ponies. The reason why a wall in the said tunnels showed a picture of Princess Celestia.
“Girls… I think I have a theory,” Twilight finally spoke up. “There is only one, reasonably simple, explanation for all of this.”
Twilight walked over to the mural of Princess Celestia and put her hoof against it. She felt the cold surface of the stone, but at the same time, the picture of her mentor filled her with warmth and excitementt. If it was like she suspected, then they had been truly lucky to be allowed to walk in these tunnels and gaze upon the wonders they found inside.
Twilight turned to look at her friends, and there was a strange kind of smile on her face. It was the kind of smile that had been on everypony’s lips when they were leaving the Ponyville. In other words, it was the smile of adventurer.
“This place, this tunnel,” Twilight started. “I think we might be currently in the city that existed a long time ago, one that lied outside of a certain palace. A palace that we have all visited. In other words, I believe we are in the city that was supposed to be the capital of Equestria, before the appearance of Nightmare Moon, and the fact that the city was overrun by the Everfree Forest.”
Twilight drew a deep breath before continuing.
“In other words, we’re in the Everfree City.”